Chamois for athletic shorts having relatively elastic portion and relatively inelastic portion

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a chamois for use with athletic shorts and/or pants. The chamois comprises an elastic portion that stretches to conform to a wearer&#39;s body to reduce irritation and a relatively inelastic portion that resists stretch to inhibit breakdown of the foam in support areas.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to chamois and, more particularly, tochamois having relatively higher elastic and relatively lower elastic orinelastic portions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cycling pants/shorts of various configurations have become popularbecause they provide some cushioning between the bicycle seat and thecyclist, and they minimize chafing of the body of the cyclist. Cyclingshorts conventionally include an inner pad, or chamois as they are knownin the art, located in the crotch and buttocks regions of the cyclist.Shorts and pants are used interchangeably in this application. Whilesome chamois are composed of a number of pieces of flexible materialthat are stitched together, other chamois are formed of one piece ofmaterial. As used in this application flexible generally means pliableor bendable.

One conventional chamois is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,101, titledCYCLING SHORTS WITH ANATOMICAL SEAT PAD, issued Dec. 21, 1993, to Septhet al., incorporated herein by reference as if set out in full. The '101patent provides cycling shorts having a padded, three-layer, seat linerhaving a plurality of integrally formed and embossed break lines.

While these early chamois provided some improvement and comfort, theearly chamois, such as the '101 chamois, still caused irritation to thewearer. To reduce irritation, and provide increased comfort anddurability, multiple density chamois were developed. Such multipledensity chamois are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,687,917, titled CHAMOISFOR CYCLING PANTS AND METHOD OF MAKING, issued Feb. 10, 2004, to Forsythet al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,702, titled the same, issued May 20,2003, to Forsyth et al., both of which are incorporated herein byreference. The multiple density chamois provided increased support inthe areas where increased support was necessary, and increasedpliability where increased pliability was necessary. The multipledensity chamois enhanced chamois performance, but still causedirritation to users.

Recently, a trend has begun where the chamois is constructed out of notjust one or more density and/or thickness materials, but elasticmaterials as well. Elastic as used in this application generally meansstretchable, unlike the use of the term flexible, which refers topliable. Using elastic and flexible material allows the chamois tostretch and bend with the user's body tending to reduce irritation.

While using elastic material provided some benefits, the supportmaterial tends to breakdown after repeated stretch and retraction of thefoam. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a chamois that correctedthis and other problems with the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To attain the advantages and in accordance with the present invention, achamois is provided. The shoe comprises a garment facing side and a bodyfacing side. The chamois further comprises at least two materials, onematerial being a relatively elastic material and the second materialbeing a relatively inelastic material.

The foregoing and other features, utilities and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescription of a preferred embodiment of the invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the presentinvention, and together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples thereof. Like items in the drawings are referred to using thesame numerical reference.

FIG. 1 is a body-side elevation view of a chamois constructed inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded, cross-sectional view of the chamois of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded, cross-sectional view of an alternative chamoisconstructed in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded, cross-sectional view of an alternative chamoisconstructed in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded, cross-sectional view of an alternative chamoisconstructed in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 to5. While the present invention is explained with particular reference tochamois for cycling shorts, one of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize on reading the disclosure that the present invention hasmultiple uses and multiple configurations. In particular, the presentinvention would be useful in any multi-density system where at least aportion of the system needs to be elastic.

FIG. 1 illustrates a chamois 100 constructed in accordance with thepresent invention. Chamois 100 has a buttocks region 102 and anabdominal region 104. Buttocks region 102 has a plurality of buttockssupport areas 106 defined by seams 108. Seams 108 may be embossed seams,welded seams, bonded seams, adhesive seals, stitched seams, or acombination thereof.

While chamois 100 is shown with two separate buttocks support areas 106,areas 106 could be connected into a single area 106 or each shown pad106 could be split into multiple pad areas as a matter of design choice.Further, the overall shape of buttocks support areas 106 is a matter ofdesign choice. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 1, chamois 100 may containadditional support areas, such as, for example, abdominal support area110. More, less, or different support areas are possible as a matter ofdesign choice.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a cross-sectional view of chamois 100 aboutline 2-2 is shown. As shown, chamois 100 resides between a garment, suchas cycling short 200 and a wearer, such as cyclist body 202. Chamois 100comprises a garment facing elastic cloth layer 204 situated proximatethe short 200. A relatively high elasticity foam layer 206 is providedon cloth layer 204 and generally traverses the entire chamois 100although elastic foam layer 206 does not need to be contiguous. Elasticfoam layer 206 may be comprised of a number of elastic or stretchablefoams such as, for example, high density closed cell foam, low densityopen cell foam, combinations thereof, or the like. A plurality of foampads 208 are arranged on elastic foam layer 206. Foam pads 208 comprisea relatively low elastic foam or an inelastic foam, such as, forexample, high density closed cell foam, low density open cell foam,combinations thereof, or the like. As used herein, relatively inelasticgenerally means less elasticity than the elastic materials, whichincludes inelastic materials. For example, the relatively elasticportions of the chamois may experience a stretch of about 5% withcomplete recovery using a 2-lb weight to stretch the material. A stretchof about 5% means about a 5% change in the dimension (lenght, width,diagonal, etc.) being tested. Other relatively elastic portions mayexperience stretch of about 2% to 25% or more depending on the specificmaterials used for construction. The relatively inelastic portionstypically have stretch values of less than 1 or 2% and as close to zerostretch as possible, but can have stretch values of up to about 5% lessthan the stretch of the relatively elastic portion. However, forrelatively elastic portions of the chamois being around 20%, therelatively inelastic portion of the chamois should be around 5% or less.Also, foam pads 208 may comprises single density foams, such as, forexample, 60 kg open cell foam that are generally known in the art, orthe like, or multi-density foams, such as, for example, 60 kg open cellfoam and 120 kg closed cell foam that are generally known in the art, orthe like. If support areas 106 and 110 comprise a single area, only onefoam pad 208 would be provided.

Finally a body side elastic cloth layer 210 is provided proximate thebody. Cloth layer 210 may comprise a wickable, absorbable, orhydrophobic material as a matter of design choice. Cloth layer 210generally traverses all of chamois 100. Optionally, portions 212 ofcloth layer 210 (off-set in phantom) may be replaced with relatively lowelastic or inelastic material substantially aligned with foam pads 208.Non-stretchable synthetic leather provides one possible portion 212.Portions 212 could be contiguous with cloth layer 210. Alternatively,through holes 214 could be cut into cloth layer 210 and portions 212could be arranged in through holes 214. Alternatively, portions 212could reside on cloth layer 210 and be substantially aligned with foampads 208.

Optionally, cloth layer 210 may contain anti-microbial material.Anti-microbial material is generally known in the art and will not befurther explained herein. Instead of incorporating an anti-microbialmaterial into cloth layer 210, a separate elastic anti-microbialmaterial layer 216 may be provided.

Support areas, such as, for example, buttocks support areas 106 andabdominal support areas 108 are typically designed to provide supportfor the wearer's body. Ideally, the additional support is provided by arelatively high density foam pad 208, a relatively thicker foam pad 208,or a combination of a relatively denser foam pad and relatively thickerfoam pad 208, although foam pad 208 could be the same density andthickness as foam layer 206. Moreover, foam pads may containmulti-density foams as described above.

As mentioned above, repeated stretching and contracting of foamsincrease the fatigue and accelerate the breakdown of the foam. Thistends to decrease the overall effectiveness of the support areas, suchas, buttocks support areas 106 and abdominal support areas 110.Providing pads 208 as relatively low elasticity and or inelasticmaterials reduces the stresses the foam experiences and inhibits thebreakdown of the material, which tends to enhance the overallperformance. Alternatively, providing relatively inelastic seams 108and/or relatively inelastic portions 212 reduces the stresses as well.Combining relatively inelastic pads along with inelastic seams 108and/or inelastic portions 212 would also reduce the stress.

Referring to FIG. 3, a chamois 300 is shown. Chamois 300 is generallysimilar to chamois 100 above, and the similarities will not bere-explained herein. Chamois 300 has a plurality of foam pads 308arranged on elastic foam layer 206. Foam pads 308 are substantiallyaligned with support areas, such as, for example, buttocks support area106. Foam pads 308 may comprise either a relatively high or lowelasticity foam, such as any of the foams mentioned above. In this casewhere foam pads 308 are elastic, layer 210 has portions 312 comprising arelatively low elasticity or inelastic material, such as, for example,synthetic leather, are arranged as relatively low elasticity orinelastic constraints on the ability of foam pad 308 to stretch.

FIG. 4 shows another chamois 400 consistent with the present invention.Chamois 400 is similar to chamois 100 or 300, but elastic layer 206contains a number of through holes 402 corresponding to the number ofsupport areas, such as support areas 106. Foam pads 208 are alignedwithin through holes 402 instead of residing on elastic layer 206.

FIG. 5 shows another chamois 500. Chamois 500 is consistent with eitherchamois 100 or 300, and comprises cloth layers 204 and 210. Cloth layer210 may have portions 212 designed with relatively low elasticity orinelastic material. Similarly, cloth layer 204 may have portions 512(similar to portions 212 described above). Residing between cloth layers204 and 210 is an elastic foam layer 506. Elastic foam layer 506 has anumber of through openings 508 containing foam pads 510. Foam pads 510comprise a relatively low elasticity or inelastic foam material and aresubstantially contained in foam layer 506.

Instead of openings 508, as shown in phantom in FIG. 5, elastic foamlayer 506 could be replaced with two foam layers 512 arranged with foampads 510 contained between the layers.

Finally, referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, if cloth layer 210 did notinclude anti-stretch portions 212 and foam 208 was relatively highelasticity foam, constructing seams 108 out of a relatively lowelasticity or inelastic material or construction could function toinhibit the stress on foams 208.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various other changes in the form and details may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A chamois, comprising: a first cloth layer; the first cloth layerbeing relatively elastic and having a garment facing side; a secondcloth layer; the second cloth layer being relatively elastic and havinga body facing side; a first foam layer; the first foam layer coupled tothe first cloth layer opposite the garment facing side and locatedbetween the first cloth layer and the second cloth layer; the first foamlayer being relatively elastic such that the chamois stretches; at leastone foam pad; and the at least one foam pad being coupled to the firstfoam layer; the at least one foam pad being relatively inelastic andarranged between the first foam layer and the second cloth layer, suchthat a portion of the chamois is relatively elastic and a portion of thechamois is relatively inelastic.
 2. The chamois of claim 1, wherein thesecond cloth layer comprises an anti-microbial material.
 3. The chamoisof claim 1, further comprising an anti-microbial material layer, whereinthe anti-microbial material layer is located proximate the second clothlayer and is comprised of a relatively elastic material.
 4. The chamoisof claim 1, wherein the second cloth layer comprises at least onerelatively inelastic portion, wherein the at least one relativelyinelastic portion is substantially aligned with the at least one foampad, such that the second cloth layer may stretch in multiple directionsbut the at least one inelastic portion of the second cloth layerinhibits stretching in that portion.
 5. The chamois of claim 1, whereinthe first cloth layer comprises at least one relatively inelasticportion, wherein the at least one relatively inelastic portion issubstantially aligned with the at least one foam pad, such that thefirst cloth layer may stretch in multiple directions but the at least oninelastic portion of the first cloth layer inhibits stretching in thatportion.
 6. The chamois of claim 1, wherein the at least one foam padcomprises a plurality of foam pads.
 7. The chamois of claim 1, whereinthe at least one foam pad is substantially arranged about the buttocksregion of the chamois.
 8. The chamois of claim 1, wherein the at leastone foam pad comprises a multiple density foam.
 9. The chamois of claim1, wherein the at least one foam pad comprises a first density and thefirst foam layer comprises a second density less than the first density.10. The chamois of claim 1, further comprising: a second foam layer; thesecond foam layer being coupled to the second cloth layer opposite thebody facing side and located between the at least one foam pad and thesecond cloth layer; and the second foam layer being relatively elasticsuch that the chamois stretches.
 11. The chamois of claim 10, whereinthe first foam layer and the second foam layer comprise the same type offoam.
 12. The chamois of claim 1, wherein the first cloth layer, thesecond cloth layer, the first foam layer, and the at least one foam padare flexible.
 13. A chamois, comprising: a first cloth layer; the firstcloth layer being relatively elastic and having a garment facing side; asecond cloth layer; the second cloth layer being relatively elastic andhaving at least one relatively inelastic portion, the second cloth layerhas a body facing side; a first foam layer; the first foam layer coupledto the first cloth layer opposite the garment facing side and the secondcloth layer opposite the body facing side, the first foam layer locatedbetween the first cloth layer and the second cloth layer; the first foamlayer being relatively elastic such that the chamois stretches; at leastone foam pad; and the at least one foam pad being coupled to the firstfoam layer between the first foam layer and the second cloth layer; theat least one foam pad substantially aligned with the at least onerelatively inelastic portion, such that the at least one foam pad isinhibited from stretching.
 14. The chamois of claim 13, wherein the atleast one foam pad is relatively inelastic.
 15. The chamois of claim 13,wherein the at least one foam pad is elastic.
 16. The chamois of claim13, wherein at least the second cloth layer contains an anti-microbialmaterial.
 17. The chamois of claim 13, wherein the first cloth layercomprises a relatively inelastic portion substantially aligned with theat least one foam pad.
 18. The chamois of claim 14, wherein the at leastone foam pad is relatively denser than the elastic foam layer.
 19. Thechamois of claim 14, wherein the at least one foam pad comprisesmultiple densities at least one of which is denser than the elastic foamlayer.
 20. A chamois, comprising: a first cloth layer; the first clothlayer being relatively elastic and having a garment facing side; asecond cloth layer; the second cloth layer being relatively elastic andhaving a body facing side; a first foam layer; the first foam layercoupled to the first cloth layer opposite the garment facing side andthe second cloth layer opposite the body facing side, the first foamlayer located between the first cloth layer and the second cloth layer;the first foam layer being relatively elastic such that the chamoisstretches; the first foam layer having at least one through hole; atleast one foam pad; and the at least one foam pad being sized to fit inthe at least one through hole and coupled to the first foam layer in theat least one through hole; and the at least one foam pad comprising arelatively inelastic material; wherein the at least one foam pad isinhibited from stretching.
 21. The chamois of claim 20, wherein thefirst foam layer comprises a first density and the at least one foam padcomprises a second density greater than the first density.
 22. Thechamois of claim 20, wherein the first cloth layer comprises at leastone relatively inelastic portion substantially aligned with the at leastone foam pad.
 23. The chamois of claim 20, wherein the second clothlayer comprises at least one relatively inelastic portion substantiallyaligned with the at least one foam pad.
 24. The chamois of claim 22,wherein the second cloth layer comprises at least one relativelyinelastic portion substantially aligned with the at least one foam pad.25. The chamois of claim 20, further comprising anti-microbial material.26. The chamois of claim 22, wherein the relatively inelastic portioncomprises synthetic leather.
 27. The chamois of claim 23, wherein therelatively inelastic portion comprises synthetic leather.
 28. A chamois,comprising: a first cloth layer; the first cloth layer being relativelyelastic and having a garment facing side; a second cloth layer; thesecond cloth layer being relatively elastic and having a body facingside; a first foam layer; the first foam layer coupled to the firstcloth layer opposite the garment facing side and the second cloth layeropposite the body facing side, the first foam layer located between thefirst cloth layer and the second cloth layer; the first foam layer beingrelatively elastic such that the chamois stretches; at least onerelatively inelastic material coupled to at least one of the first clothlayer and the second cloth layer; and the at least one relativelyinelastic material inhibits stretching of the first cloth layer, thefirst foam layer, and the second cloth layer in areas substantiallyaligned with the at least one relatively inelastic material.
 29. Thechamois of claim 28, wherein the at least one relatively inelasticmaterial comprises at least a first relatively inelastic materialcoupled to the first cloth layer and a second relatively inelasticmaterial coupled to the second cloth layer.
 30. The chamois of claim 28,further comprising at least one foam pad, the at least one foam padsubstantially aligned with the at least one relatively inelasticmaterial.
 31. The chamois of claim 30, wherein the at least one foam padis relatively inelastic.
 32. The chamois of claim 30, wherein the atleast one foam pad comprises a first density and the first foam layercomprises a second density less than the first density.
 33. The chamoisof claim 30, wherein the at least one foam pad is thicker than the firstfoam layer.
 34. The chamois of claim 32, wherein the at least one foampad comprises a multi-density foam.
 35. The chamois of claim 28, whereinthe first foam layer comprises at least one through hole substantiallyaligned with the at least one relatively inelastic portion, and furthercomprising at least one foam pad arranged in the at least one throughhole.
 36. The chamois of claim 30, further comprising a second foamlayer arranged such that the at least one foam pad resides in a throughopening between the first foam layer and the second foam layer.
 37. Achamois, comprising: a first cloth layer having a garment facing side,the first cloth layer being relatively elastic; a first foam layercoupled to the first cloth layer, the first foam layer being relativelyelastic and defining at least one through opening substantiallycontained in the first foam layer; at least one foam pad contained inthe at least one through opening; the at least one foam pad beingrelatively inelastic; and a second cloth layer having a body facingside, the second cloth layer being relatively elastic and coupled to thefirst foam layer.
 38. The chamois of claim 37, wherein the first foamlayer is formed of a garment side foam layer and a body side foam layerabutting at an interface, and wherein the at least one foam pad isarranged on the interface and substantially surrounded by the first foamlayer.
 39. A chamois, comprising: a first cloth layer; the first clothlayer being relatively elastic and having a garment facing side; asecond cloth layer; the second cloth layer being relatively elastic andhaving a body facing side; a first foam layer; the first foam layercoupled to the first cloth layer opposite the garment facing side andlocated between the first cloth layer and the second cloth layer; thefirst foam layer being relatively elastic such that the chamoisstretches; at least one foam pad; the at least one foam pad beingcoupled to the first foam layer; and at least one seam, the at least oneseam at least partially enclosing the at least one foam pad andinhibiting the at least one foam pad from stretching, such that aportion of the chamois is relatively elastic and a portion of thechamois is relatively inelastic.
 40. The chamois of claim 39, whereinthe at least one foam pad comprises a material different than the firstfoam layer.
 41. The chamois of claim 40, wherein the at least one foampad comprises a material that is denser than the first foam layer. 42.The chamois of claim 39, further comprising at least one relativelyinelastic portion in the first cloth layer, the at least one relativelyinelastic portion is substantially aligned with the at least one foampad.
 43. The chamois of claim 39, further comprising at least onerelatively inelastic portion in the second cloth layer, the at least onerelatively inelastic portion is substantially aligned with the at leastone foam pad.
 44. The chamois of claim 40, wherein the at least one foampad comprises a relatively inelastic foam.
 45. The chamois of claim 39,wherein the at least one foam pad is arranged on the first foam layer.46. The chamois of claim 39, further comprising at least one throughhole in the first foam layer wherein the at least one foam pad isarranged in the at least one through hole.
 47. The chamois of claim 39,further comprising at least one through opening in the first foam layerwherein the at least one foam pad is arranged in the at least onethrough opening.
 48. The chamois of claim 39, wherein the first foamlayer comprises an garment side foam layer and a body side foam layercoupled at an interface, and wherein the at least one foam pad isarranged on the interface.
 49. The chamois of claim 1, wherein thechamois is flexible.
 50. The chamois of claim 13, wherein the chamois isflexible.
 51. The chamois of claim 20, wherein the chamois is flexible.52. The chamois of claim 28, wherein the chamois is flexible.
 53. Thechamois of claim 37, wherein the chamois is flexible.
 54. The chamois ofclaim 39, wherein the chamois is flexible.